Side Trip to Firenze.

By prior arrangement, we drove to Florence to meet our friends the Drydens, who were in town on a 6-hour whirlwind tour off a cruise boat parked in Livorno. After some anxious hours we finally made contact by email and agreed to meet by the golden doors of the Baptistry, by the Duomo. Despite out limited time together, it was all a great success: Nancy took Patti and her sister-in-law Carol to the local food market for a bit, while Rod and his mother and I walked around a bit before picking up tickets for the Uffizi. We all went through the museum together, though a bit rushed for time, and still managed a drink and antipasto in a cafe by the Sprito Santo before they had to load up. It was great for Nancy and me to be in the company of such enthusiastic travelers; we sometimes get stressed by our forays into the "big city" and forget what a special place it is!
Apart for our meeting with the Drydens, Nancy and I had some nice walks and couple of swell dinners. Our hotel from two years ago had closed shop to become a residential hotel, and we ended up in nice room - part of the "Old Bridge" hotel , which seemed to be composed of two floors of an apartment building - which was just a couple of blocks from the Ponte Vecchio. The catch, of course, as per usual in Florence, no real parking availiable except what you can pay dearly for: the first night we got bad advice and gained a parking ticket; the second night we ponyed up for an indoor stall at a nearby garage. At 25 euros, not cheap, but not the end of the world. We also discovered that cappucino and brioche for two costs 10 euros in a "neighborhood", as opposed to 18 euros with sight of the Palazzo Vechio.
We returned to our little farmhouse in Camaiore on the first of September, and our Australian/Italian cousins the Casalis came over for a short visit in the afternoon.